Geologic Map of the Maysville Quadrangle, Chaffee County, Colorado

Patented Lode Mining Claims – There are two groups of patented lode mining claims in
the Maysville quadrangle. The oldest patented claim includes the Copper King claim
(Mineral Survey 1165) which was patented by Monarch Mining Co in December 1880
and is located southwest of the Maysville town site, in NW 1 / 4 , Section 3, T49N, R7E.
This claim still has an open shaft (+40 feet) with a moderate-sized waste dump, with
abundant Cu-oxide stained quartz-magnetite veins in hornblende intermediate gneiss.
The largest patent group includes the Alaska group located at 13,400 to 14,000
feet elevation just south of the summit of Mount Shavano (Sections 6 and 7, T50N, R7E).
The Alaska group includes eleven claims that were patented (Mineral Surveys 15899 and
15901) in November 1904 by the Mt. Shavano Mining and Milling Company. Crawford
(1913) mentioned that a tunnel (adit on west side of ridge) was being driven around 1910
and that a shipment from the surface workings ran about $40.00 gold per ton. Minor Cuoxides
and quartz veins are associated with garnet-epidote calc-silicate hosted in
amphibolite gneiss. On the basis of the visible ground disturbance that can be seen today,
there does not appear to have been any significant work on these patented claims after
about 1910. Information from the Bureau of Land Management LR2000 Data Base
indicates that there have not been any unpatented lode mining claims in this area since
the mid-1960’s.
Unpatented Lode Mining Claims – Most of the larger mines in the Maysville
quadrangle are associated with unpatented lode mining claims on federal lands that predate
the Bureau of Land Management claim record data base. An historical review of the
old unpatented mining claims requires a detailed analysis of the Chaffee County
courthouse records that was beyond the scope of this study. However, descriptions by
Crawford (1913, plate 1 and pages 279-281) indicate that many of the mines were active
around 1910 and that the bulk of the mining activity was in progress at that time.
Practically all of the significant mines that were identified during this study are shown on
Crawford’s (1913) map. Notable exceptions include the Blank mine (SE 1 / 4 , Section 8,
T50N, R7E) and mines on the ridge between upper Willow Creek and Como Creek
(SE 1 / 4 , Section 12, T49N, R6E).
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